Nuts & a Longneck: Food and Beer Pairings

If Leonardo Divinci was born today he would have some serious competition. Pepe VelÃƒÂ¡zquez. Divinci had wine; Pepe has beer. Divinci had art; Pepe has beer. Divinci had his inventions; Pepe has beer. But more than that Pepe has beer and he knows what beer needsÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

Food.

Food and beer were meant to be together. In fact they used to be the same thing. The first beers resembled porridge and, due to a lengthy expiration date, helped the ancient Sumerians survive the winter months.

Nowadays beer is better and more diverse than ever and so is the food. Picking what beer to drink with what kind of food is a difficult art that most people ignore. Ã‚Â But as Pepe philosophized, Ã¢â‚¬Å“You wouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t wear black shoes with a brown belt so why would you eat black beans with a brown ale?Ã¢â‚¬Â Here are a couple straightforward pairs from Pepe to keep your taste buds titillating even after your face turns numb.

Meatballs and an IPA

Bland meatballs wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t cut it here. TheyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll be completely overpowered by the IPA. If youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re drinking a Stone Ruination IPA or a Rogue Imperial IPA youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re going to need some very hot balls i.e. balls so hot they make you cry. Let your balls take a hot bath in this meatball sauce thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s not only a bit spicy but itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s made with beer, too.

2 (12-oz.) bottles chili sauce

1 (12-oz.) can of beer

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Ground cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon brown sugar

If youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re drinking a really strong IPA try curry with your meatballs. You wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t be disappointed.

Hearty Sausage and a Dunkelweizen

ThereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s nothing like some hearty sausage and a stein of Dunkelweizen to make you feel like your roaming the foothills of Austria with Julie Andrews. Or Christopher Plummer if thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s what youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re into. Ã‚Â When youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve downed the sausage and youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re still yearning for more reach for a banana cream pie. YouÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll be satisfied down to the last bite. Here’s two of our favorite Dunkelweizens to try with your sausage, New Glarus Black Wheat and the Samuel Adam’s Dunkelweizen. This is one of my very favorite food and beer pairings.

Cream Puffs and an Oatmeal Stout

Boy does Pepe like cream puffs. He talks about them all the time, but never as much as when heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s also talking about oatmeal stout. These two couldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t make for a better post meal snack.

There’s not much to say really, except you don’t have to be a cream puff to enjoy one. We like it with Rogue‘s Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout

And finally, nothing says tradition like an American lager and a bowl of nuts. You canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have the nuts plain though. Make sure you get all of your friends and neighbors to come over and stick their hands in there. Their sweaty palms will marinade the nuts with a dank salty flavor that goes perfectly with your tasteless lager.